The Mississippi State softball team already had an impressive start to the season headed into Wednesday’s doubleheader with Belmont. The Bulldogs opened the season with a win against No. 17 Southwest Texas State by a score of 8-1. State improved the record to 2-0 with a 12-4 win against Texas Tech. The Bulldogs made it 3-0 with a very impressive win against the defending national champion Arizona Wildcats by a score of 7-1. State improved to 4-0 with a win over New Mexico State by a score of 7-6. Pitcher Kasey Whitehead earned the SEC Player of the Week award on Monday sporting a record of 3-0 and an ERA of 0.71. Prior to Wednesday’s double-header at home against Belmont, Bulldogs head coach Kathy Arendsen said, “Belmont signals our much-anticipated home opener. We look forward to competing here on our home field and it will be great to have our fan support behind us again as well. We expect a competitive team that will force us to play our best again.”
She added, “We hope that our players will build upon this success. Increased confidence hopefully will propel us to bigger and better accomplishments this season. We’ve learned that if we play as a team, we can beat anyone. Every player contributed to our success this weekend and we will need that continued contribution to achieve our goals this season.”
So with that in mind, the Bulldogs took the field Wednesday at. The Bulldogs exploded offensively, and they also had three pitchers combine for a no-hitter. The Bulldogs downed the Bruins by a final score of 11-0. Iyhia McMichael went 2-2 at the plate, had 3 RBI, and scored 3 runs, and Jennifer Nelson went 3-3 with 3 runs. McMichael and Nelson also tallied five of MSU’s eight stolen bases in the contest. Six other Bulldogs collected base hits.
Not only was the offense superb, but pitching was a gem as well. Whitehead (4-0) struck out two batters in two innings of work. Melissa Massey, in her first collegiate appearance, then came in and held her own. Krystal Tillman made her first pitching appearance for the Bulldogs although she is normally an outfielder. Tillman struck out one in the fifth to finish out the game.
This game was only the fourth no-hitter in MSU history. It was also the first combined no-hitter in school history. The eight stolen bases that State had ranks second all-time. So, after defeating the Bruins in the first half of the doubleheader and improving the season record to 5-0, State set out for play in the second game.
The second game turned out to be more of a defensive struggle. Tillman’s RBI single brought Kate Jaspers (2 for 4) home in the first inning. Kellie Wilkerson also got two hits in the contest. The Bulldogs got runners on board in each of the next four innings before Nelson’s RBI in the sixth provided the final score. State took the game by a final score of 2-0 and swept the double header of the Bruins, making their season record 6-0.
In the pitching department, Nelson (1-0) worked the first five innings of the contest, allowing just two hits and striking out five to earn the victory. Wilkerson struck out four when she came in as a relief pitcher for the last two innings to earn her first save of the season and the 19th of her career.
Mississippi State returns to action this afternoon when they host the 2002 MSU Bulldog Classic. The tournament starts at 11 a.m. with MSU’s first game taking place at 1 p.m. against Southern Illinois.